


Entwined

by sciencebluefeelings



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Bodyswap, Friends to Lovers, Height Differences, M/M, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28982046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciencebluefeelings/pseuds/sciencebluefeelings
Summary: A stasis chamber malfunction leads to Techno and Phil swapping bodies. They have no idea how to swap back.
Relationships: Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade/Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 392





	Entwined

Techno drops his hoe the moment he feels his friendship emerald pulse, a signal from Phil to activate the stasis chamber.

It was Phil’s idea. Their friendship emeralds are enchanted so they can communicate even when several miles apart. Phil proudly displays his as an earring dangling from his left ear. Techno wears his on a chain over his heart, tucked under his shirt because he doesn’t dare give any opportunity for it to be lost.

Techno runs from the rows of wheat to the tall structure on the other side of his cabin. He climbs to the top of the spiraling stairs and flips the lever, just as Phil had instructed him.

Techno is struck with an unfamiliar vertigo, sparking from his feet up to his spine and then through his mouth with a screaming pain. Techno feels like he’s hurtling through empty space, then he’s falling. He feels something hard pressed to his cheek and shoulder - when did that get there? Everything is painful - the most alarming part is that Techno can’t pinpoint where the fierce ache is coming from. He can usually instantly discern his injuries instantly, having lived a lifestyle of ceaseless battles and wounds.

“Techno,” someone cries above Techno’s head, but Techno doesn’t recognize the deep, hoarse voice. He tries to reply and the wheeze that escapes his throat doesn’t feel like his voice at all. Techno manages to open his eyes and stares directly at blue sky and his own face staring back at him.

Techno reaches out and chokes at the sight of fair skin and a green sleeve. He presses a hand to his face and it doesn’t feel right. He speaks with an unfamiliar, bright voice. “Philza? Is that you?”

“Oh my fucking gods,” Techno’s body says. The cursing and accent just sound plain weird coming from Techno’s voice.

Techno grimaces, the ground under him cold and snowy. “I guess if you were ever curious whether you retained your accent when you swap bodies, now we know that you do.” Phil in Techno’s body tentatively reaches out. Techno takes his hand and can’t help being startled by how easily Phil helps him up. It feels like he’s floating.

Techno stares up at his body, and Phil looks down at him. Techno has to crane his neck back. He has never had to do this before. In his entire life. He is incredibly uncomfortable right now. “What happened?” Techno asks.

Phil exhales. “Hell if I know.” He keeps a tight grip on Techno’s hand as Techno staggers sideways, thrown off balance by the weight of the wings. “I’ve used this mechanism a bunch of times before, and I’ve never heard of something like this ever happening.”

Hearing Phil’s inflections in Techno’s voice is throwing him off again. Techno grumbles, “First time I’m the one to activate the dumb portal and now we’re in this mess.” He fumbles to stay upright again, and Phil laughs. Techno mock-glares at his friend. “Phil, c’mon. Don’t laugh at me. Please - _my feelings._ ”

“Sorry,” Phil says, not sounding sorry at all. He still hasn’t let go of Techno’s hands. “It would help a lot if you fold the wings to your body. There are a few feathers that have to be smoothed out, but we need to move somewhere you can sit down.”

Techno tries to flex the unfamiliar muscles. “I have _no idea_ what you want me to do, Philza.”

For some reason, that makes Phil laugh again. He sounds more like himself than Techno when he does. “Picture the wing like an arm, Techno. There’s a ‘shoulder’ joint, elbow and wrist. The flight feathers at the tips cross over at the ends.”

Techno inhales deeply. “Okay.” Techno tries to form the mental image in his head and moves the wings. “Oh god-”

Techno feels it before it happens. The broad wings move in the wrong direction and catch a stray gust of wind. Techno weighs less than Phil now, but the momentum is enough to bring Phil down with him and they fall into the snow together. Techno scowls in frustration, but Phil tilts his head back and laughs freely. Techno’s anger melts and he watches Phil with amusement.

Phil exhales and heaves himself to his feet, swaying slightly. He holds his hands out for Techno to grab again. “Okay, try again.”

Techno tightly grips Phil and tries flexing one wing, then the other. It seems to be easier than trying to keep track of both of them at once. How on earth does Phil manage to fly so gracefully with such clunky things? Techno finally manages to settle them against his body, and he feels the sensitive feathers brush against his ankles. Phil moves one hand from Techno’s own to wrap around Techno’s shoulder. It’s so strange feeling his own body enveloping himself. “Are you alright?” Phil asks. “Any pain?”

Techno twists his neck and realizes he can see the feathers that have been knocked out of alignment. That must be what’s causing the dull, uncomfortable aching that he couldn’t pinpoint. “I’m so sorry about your wings, Phil.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Phil says easily. “I wonder if anyone else has had this problem before?”

Techno freezes. “No. We’re not asking anyone for help.”

“Techno,” Phil begins.

Techno interrupts, “We can’t tell anyone, Philza. Lots of people are out to get us, if you’ve forgotten? I can imagine they’d be more than happy to take advantage of us while we’re in this weakened state.”

“We’ll be fine,” Phil says with that infuriating optimism of his.

Techno tries to stretch up to match eye level with Phil and fails. “Phil, we can’t have anything happening to either of us. We have no idea what would happen.”

Techno’s not really worried about his own body with its thick skin scarred beyond repair, but he’s terrified about Phil’s body getting hurt. He couldn’t bear to see Phil’s skin marred, or worse yet, have someone take a more permanent route than the Curse of Binding anklets and pinion Phil’s beautiful, glossy wings so he’d never be able to fly again. Techno would never forgive himself if that were to happen to Phil.

Techno is brought back to the present by Phil speaking up. “Ranboo will realize what happened sooner or later,” Phil points out. “We’ll have to at least tell him.”

Techno glances around, but the tall child is nowhere in the vicinity. Techno huffs with discontent. “Fine. Fine, that random kid you’ve adopted gets to know. But no one else. Also, I still don’t trust him.”

“I know.” Phil hesitates. “Techno, do you notice something different?”

“Uh. Yeah, I think there’s something _very_ different.” Techno becomes serious. “You alright? What’s wrong, Philza?”

“I’m not sure,” Phil says slowly. “Maybe once I get used to being in your body, I’ll figure it out.”

“I hope we aren’t in each other’s bodies long enough to find out,” Techno says flatly and heads for the cabin. Phil climbs up the stairs with him and opens the door for them. The door immediately cracks at its hinges. Techno blinks.

“Oh. Wow, okay.” Phil releases the handle with care and walks gingerly into the cabin. “I’ll have to control my strength better next time. Ow-” Techno watches Phil walk into a low wooden beam and recoil with pain, clutching at his forehead.

Techno snorts. “I’ve been meaning to do something about that for a while.”

“I’m so sorry, Techno, fucking _hell_ that hurt.” Phil winces and glares at the wooden plank. “Why haven’t you done anything about that yet?”

Techno stares. “Have you met me, Phil?”

“Good point, but still - I don’t like the possibility of you getting hurt just sitting around like that.”

Techno finally sits down on the couch in front of the fireplace and blinks when he notices something he’d never noticed before. “Philza, do you shave your legs?”

“Oh, oh yeah. I do, in fact.”

“What?” Techno is baffled. He had been wondering what that weird feeling had been against his legs. It’s the fabric of Philza’s clothing brushing against his skin without any barrier in the way. “Why?”

“The body hair chafes against the primary flight feathers when I fold them against my body, so I shave them.” Phil seems to have gotten the hang of navigating the house in Techno’s body, and he hauls a cauldron over the fireplace to boil water for food. “If it doesn’t bother you, then you don’t have to shave them.”

“There’s no way I’m touching a razor. What if I hurt you, Philza?” The full implications of the statement suddenly hit Techno. “I’m going to have to shower in your body.”

Phil makes a noncommittal hum. “Yep.”

If Techno cursed, he definitely would be saying some choice words right about now. “Maybe we should ask someone for help after all.” The words are nearly painful to get out.

Phil turns around and stares down at him. “Oh my gods, Techno.”

Techno has a feeling the blush looks as morbidly obvious as it feels, burning at the fair skin of Phil’s cheeks.

“It’s not a big deal, Techno, probably nothing you haven’t seen before.” Phil sits next to Techno and pulls at a wing. It’s an unfamiliar sensation and Techno feels the wing instinctively shrinking away from the touch. “Relax. I'monna straighten out the feathers now. Let me know if the pain is too much.”

Techno reluctantly angles his back so Phil has easier access, and Phil begins smoothing out the feathers that had been damaged in the fall. The twinges of pain spike before soothing away. After some time Phil starts running his hands meticulously over each feather, starting from the inner ones, fluffing them out as he goes along.

It dawns on Techno that Phil is preening the wings, brushing out grit and dust while neatening up the wings. Techno’s seen Phil do it occasionally to himself. He had always wondered what Phil was doing with those repetitive gestures, he had assumed the touches lacked any intent behind them.

As Phil works, Techno feels himself lulled further and further into a relaxed, almost meditative state. It feels strange when Phil stretches the primaries and neatens the extended feathers one by one, but not strange in a bad way. Techno wonders distantly if Phil had someone to preen his wings like this for him when he was younger. He doesn’t know much about avians, but it seems like something they would do to bond.

Phil finally leans back with a pleased hum and looks up and down at his handiwork. “Good-looking bastard.”

Techno huffs. “Don’t let that vanity get to your head, Philza.” He settles the glossy wings back to his body. Now that they are contained within the safety of his house, Techno notices for the first time that something is missing. It’s like Phil had mentioned before, something’s not quite right but Techno can’t pinpoint what it is.

Phil exhales. “So what do you propose we do to swap our bodies back?”

“Clearly it has something to do with the stasis chamber.” Techno furrows his brow. “Although we’ve used it before and it worked fine. Can you think of anything that’s changed since the last time we used it?”

“No, not really. Are there any new enchants on any of your armor? Maybe they’re interfering with the natural mechanisms of the ender pearl.”

“Nope,” Techno says after thinking for a moment.

Phil shakes his head. “I can’t think of anything, either.”

“Maybe it was purely by chance? We could - try using the stasis chamber a bunch of times and see if we swap back.”

“Maybe, if you don’t have any better ideas.” Phil stretches slightly. “We’d have to try tomorrow, though. It’s getting late.”

“Alright.” Techno has a feeling that it’s not just a simple matter with the stasis chamber, but if not, what could be the reason they’ve swapped bodies?

They eat and get ready for bed together with minimal difficulty. Techno is worried about waterlogging the wings, but it turns out they’re waterproof and only need minimal rinsing in the shower. It takes forever to dry off the droplets through, especially since Techno is trying his best not to fall flat on his face again. Then Techno doesn’t know how to lie down with the wings in the way, and Phil has to help him by showing him how to angle the wings so he can sleep on his side.

Techno’s lying in his own bed, which is right next to Phil’s where Phil is now resting under the covers. Phil’s face is illuminated by the dying embers of the fireplace upstairs.

Intuitively Techno knows that he’s inside the body that he is touching, but he can’t quell the thrill pulsing in his throat, being surrounded by the comforting, familiar softness of Phil’s wings. He wants to tenderly stroke at the feathers, feeling the texture under his fingertips.

Techno tucks his hands closer to his chest out of Phil’s gaze and lets a fingertip graze over each digit. The nails are well trimmed and the skin is slightly dry. Techno pauses over a ring indentation on the fourth finger of the left hand. It’s clear that it’s an old mark, yet Techno can’t help the spark of sour jealousy in his throat.

It’s quiet. Techno feels himself drifting off to sleep despite the unfamiliar texture of the blankets and the press of the mattress to his wings.

“Techno,” Phil whispers.

Techno doesn’t open his eyes. “Phil?”

Phil sounds miserable. “I know what it is now. The thing I noticed earlier. It’s the voices. The ones you’ve mentioned before that are inside your head.”

Techno is immediately alert. “Oh, Philza, oh no.”

“They’re so fucking loud.” Phil presses a hand to his forehead. “How do you get any sleep at night?”

“I don’t, usually,” Techno admits. He’ll slip away while Phil is fast asleep and read by candlelight, or go outside into the bleak wintry night and find monsters to stab.

“I never realized - how _excruciating_ this is for you to deal with.”

Techno hesitates. He slips closer to Phil with tentative movements before lying down next to him and wrapping an arm around his chest. It’s kind of weird hugging his own body, but Phil’s inside of there and he sounds so unhappy. Besides, if they were in their own bodies, Techno would never do what he’s doing right now.

Techno feels Phil untense considerably under his touch, which encourages Techno to move closer still despite the quickening pulse in his neck. They end up falling asleep together in that position.

Next morning, Phil instructs Techno to follow him outside for some wing training.

“Usually I’d just head out for a good flight, but I’m going to guess you don’t want to learn something in one day that usually takes years to learn.” Phil moves Techno’s hands in front of him, then crosses his forearms so he can take Techno’s hands in his own with a firm grip. “Stretches need to be done every day or else the muscles will degrade. You don’t need to fly, just do some exercises that I’ll guide you through. Flying isn’t instinctual and has to be practiced. Fledglings start out like this to build up the muscles in their wings.”

Techno nods. “Okay.”

“What you’re going to do is extend the wings into a full upstroke, then bring them back down in a full downstroke.”

Techno focuses on the points where Phil is bracing him, and he unfurls the broad wings and clumsily executes a single slow flap. “That’s good,” Phil praises. “Repeat that, but extend the wings further.”

Techno follows Phil’s instruction. Once a few minutes have passed, Techno feels far more comfortable moving the wings. He can feel the tension easing in the tendons and muscles, and with each downward stroke he can feel the slightest thrust of air.

“Philza,” Techno hears behind them. Techno’s good mood deflates.

“Oh.” Ranboo falters mid-step, probably flustered by the way Phil and Techno are holding hands. “Am I, uh am I interrupting something?”

“Hi, Ranboo,” Phil says cheerfully. “You’re good. What’s up?”

Ranboo looks from Phil to Techno, and then Phil again. “That accent - _what?_ ”

“Yeah,” Phil chuckles. “There might’ve been a little incident with the stasis chamber. We’re still trying to figure out what happened.”

Ranboo stares with that unnerving, blank look of his. All Techno can focus on right now is the fact that there are not only one, but two people towering above his head. “Why is everyone so tall,” Techno says with despair.

Phil laughs heartily while Techno despairs. Ranboo looks close to freaking out. “This might take me a bit to get used to.”

“You and me, pal,” Techno grunts, letting go of Phil and tucking the wings back to his body. “Are we done, Phil?”

“Yeah, let’s go to the stasis chamber.”

Ranboo perks up. “What’s going on?”

Phil moves aside a little to allow Ranboo to walk next to him. “We’re going to try and swap our bodies back. The stasis chamber was the crucial variable.”

Ranboo sits on a stone with a couple cows grazing nearby, and he watches while Phil and Techno try in vain to swap their bodies back, attempting every variation of stasis chamber transportation they can think of. They try swapping armor, replicating distance, different ways of tossing the ender pearl, even trying to hold the same items they’d been holding before the swap.

Techno groans and flops on a stone near Ranboo. “I don’t think it’s working, Phil.” Instinctively, he feels the wings extending out, further and further, soaking up the last of the sun’s rays. It feels really good.

Phil sighs. “I guess the only other thing I can think of is time of day, but we’ve missed that window.”

“Maybe we’ll think of something new tomorrow,” Techno murmurs, feeling the breeze flutter against the wings. He senses Phil settling on the ground between him and Ranboo, humming something to himself. Ranboo seems to recognize whatever the song is, because he begins humming along.

The sun finally dips behind the mountaintops, bathing the world around them in gold and red and dappled blue shadows.

It’s past midnight. Techno’s been trying to fall asleep for a few hours, but the worry bubbling in his chest keeps him awake. Techno sneaks a discrete glance at Phil, who appears to be in deep sleep.

Techno turns back around and sighs. Inevitably, he succumbs to the impulse to touch again, and he rubs a thumb against the back of the skin of his left hand. Phil’s hand. There are two faint freckles there that he hadn’t noticed before. Techno twists the hand to press the side of the thumb in the middle of Phil’s palm. Phil doesn’t have to know about his unreciprocated affection. Techno’s just happy to have him close. Friends like Phil are once in a lifetime, Techno refuses to compromise what they have for his own selfishness.

Techno slowly follows the palm lines, leading him to tracing half a heart. He completes the loop, then traces another heart.

_Philza. One heart, one life. One chance that Techno will protect at all costs with all of his lives._

Techno falls asleep with Phil’s wings wrapped over his body.

Techno wakes in increments. He doesn’t want to move. Maybe he can pretend that he has somehow magically returned back to his own body for a bit longer.

He feels the tickle of feathers against his nose and groans. Eventually, he sits up from his blankets, feeling them pool around his torso. He blinks the sleep out of his eyes, trying to wake up. Phil is long gone from his bed. It takes Techno another good half hour before he can move down the ladder. Phil walks through the door and Techno smiles at him. “Good morning, Phil.”

“Mm. Morning.” Phil brushes past him into the kitchen.

Techno feels his anxiety skyrocket. It’s not like Phil to be so unusually closed off. “Philza-” Techno’s voice trails off when Phil turns back around to face him with a completely normal, maybe somewhat inquisitive, expression on his face. Phil rarely keeps secrets from Techno. Has Techno done something? The voices - has Phil had enough of him? Has he finally realized he doesn’t want to be friends with such a weirdo anymore? Is he going to abandon Techno the moment they get their bodies back?

Techno nearly leaps from a rapid knocking at the door. Techno and Phil make eye contact again before Techno goes to the door and opens it.

“Ph- Techno!” Ranboo bounces on his feet. “I have something you’re gonna want to see.”

Techno raises his eyebrows as Ranboo runs in the direction of his house. He waves at Techno and Phil, who follow him in a more reserved fashion to the side of his home.

“Uh,” Phil begins, staring at the large wooden board with ink scribbled all over it.

“I’m trying to connect the dots here,” Ranboo says while pointing at a couple points on the board. “To figure out why you two swapped bodies and how to revert the condition.”

“A conspiracy board. You’re very invested in this,” Techno says, looking up and down at the detailed writings.

“Consider - consider it my gift to you both today. To uh, to pay you for rent. Yeah. Also, conspiracy theories are fun.”

“I am not a cryptid,” Techno complains before peering more closely at the writing all over the wood. Data and excessive research? That’s something Techno can appreciate. Maybe he likes this kid more than he initially thought.

Phil just looks amused. “So what has this board told you, then, Ranboo?”

“Not much, actually. But maybe we’re not looking closely enough into the situation,” Ranboo muses, turning back to Techno before doing a double take and looking at Phil in Techno’s body. “Philza, what happened exactly before the stasis chamber was activated?”

“I was in some deep shit in a ravine, surrounded by skeletons. There was one with enchanted armor that was getting really annoying.”

“And then?”

“I used the stasis chamber to transport back here and found myself in Techno’s body.”

“Specifically, what did you do?”

“Uh. I -” Realization dawns on Phil’s face. “I used my emerald to send a signal to Techno’s emerald.”

Techno frowns. “We’ve worn the emeralds before.”

“But not with the communication enchantment,” Phil points out.

“No, we definitely have at least once.”

“But we didn’t _activate_ the enchantment,” Phil says.

Techno shakes his head. “But _why_ would this happen? I’m sure other people have used communication enchantments with stasis chambers before. Right?”

Ranboo interjects. “Maybe another enchantment coupled with the signal sending enchant led to a conflicting effect. Do you have any relevant enchantments on either of your emeralds?”

“No extra enchants,” Techno says, “Just the one for communication.”

“. . . Actually, I do.”

Techno and Phil turn to face Phil, who’s nervously rubbing his arm. “I added the Curse of Binding to my friendship emerald.”

Techno freezes. The emerald earring on his - Phil’s ear. He had never noticed before, he’d never been compelled to take it off. Phil had put a Curse of Binding on it? On his gift? Techno feels the stupid blush heating his face up again from Phil’s confession.

“Took some time to get the enchantment to stick, too.” Phil sounds completely heartbroken. “I’m going to have to break it if we’re going to remove it from my body.”

“Aw, Phil.” Techno rests a hand on Phil’s arm. “I can enchant new ones.”

Phil gives Techno a tiny smile. “It’s not the same, though, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand.” Techno removes his hand. “We have a wrench. We could tighten it like a vice around the gemstone until it breaks.”

Phil hisses. Techno stares. He’s never managed to make a noise like that before. “Uh, Phil?”

Phil shakes his head. “No, no. You’re right.” Phil blows out a breath and laughs. “Got defensive all of a sudden. That could work. I’ll do it myself.”

They locate the wrench and Ranboo looks on as Techno sits still and Phil clamps the wrench onto the glowing gemstone. There’s a terse moment.

Techno glance to the side. “Are you going to count to three?”

Phi makes another frustrated sound. “Sorry, sorry. This feels so fucking _wrong_ , destroying your gift”

“Phil.” Techno doesn’t dare move his head, but he places a reassuring hand on Phil’s shoulder.

Phil takes a deep breath and Techno feels the shattering of the earring like a tremor throughout his entire body. And then something’s pressed into his chest and Techno realizes it’s Phil’s body against his. Techno grabs Phil before he can tip over, and Phil squawks in surprise as his wings snap out to balance himself.

Phil looks at Techno with wide eyes. “Is it - are we?”

Techno beams. “We did it, Phil! Ranboo, _thank you!_ ” Techno stands and hugs the kid to make sure that he’s taller than him again - he is. Ranboo looks dazzled by the contact.

Techno looks back at Phil, and he looks immensely pleased but it’s obvious that something else is on his mind. Techno's wide grin fades. That weird tension from before is back. Phil smirks at him. “Lucky you, Technoblade, you won’t have to do flight exercises this morning. I’m gonna head out for a quick flight.” Without a second glance, Phil snaps his wings out and takes off with a powerful flap that sends particles of snow in every direction. Techno’s back on his own two feet, but it feels like the world is shifting under him.

“Is everything alright?” Ranboo looks anxiously at Techno.

 _I hope so,_ Techno wants to reply. He sighs and heads for his potatoes. He doesn’t want to think about anything right now. His emerald is still on its necklace, lifeless and heavy against his chest.

Phil doesn’t return until midday, contrary to his promise to be back soon. He apologizes for being so late and immediately goes inside the cabin out of sight. Techno takes it as a cue that Phil wants to be left alone, so Techno doesn’t return to the cabin until after the sun sets. His palms ache and there’s a blister forming on one finger from gripping the hoe too tightly.

Techno plods into the house and restokes the fire before getting ready for bed. He doesn’t eat dinner, he has no appetite.

Techno had been in Phil’s body for only two nights, but the pressure difference in the shower head due to his height feels strange. Techno doesn’t need to keep track of bulky wings as he gets into the shower. He doesn’t have to use an extra towel to dry the feathers off. Techno dresses in his own sleep clothes and climbs up the ladder to his bed. God, it's going to smell like Phil, isn't it? Because he'd been sleeping in Phil's body for the last two days. Maybe he should go out for a run or something after all.

Techno pauses when he sees a dark figure in bed already. “Phil?”

Phil twists around to smile at him. “Hey.” He sits up with a wince as Techno moves closer. “Might’ve gone overboard with the flying just a tad.” Techno can’t help noticing how Phil’s hand drifts to his ear, void of the earring that had been there before.

“Phil, I want to give you this.” Techno unfastens his necklace. He’s been keeping it on despite feeling the absence of its enchantment. Phil is motionless but his eyes shine as Techno carefully puts the necklace around his neck.

“Thank you, Techno, That - that means a great deal to me.”

Techno removes his hands awkwardly. “Yeah. Well. Goodnight.”

“Techno, wait.”

Phil yanks Techno back by the wrist and Techno falls back onto Phil’s bed, choking back a surprised gasp. He stares as Phil reaches both hands out to rest them over Techno’s shoulders.

One hand moves to Techno’s chin, pausing there for a moment. Phil’s thumb rests over Techno’s bottom lip, rubbing gentle circles against the delicate skin. Techno can’t breathe. He can’t move. It feels like Phil’s eyes are searing into him, he’s never seen Phil look like this before, much less directly at him.

“Techno - I need to tell you something.” Phil takes a deep breath. “I wasn’t fully asleep last night. I saw you drawing hearts on my palm over your shoulder.”

Techno feels like everything’s slowed down around him. His heart is in his throat, and pounding so hard that he can hear his blood roaring in his ears, drowning out the voices.

Phil’s thumb rests at the crease under Techno’s lower lip. “May I kiss you?”

Overwhelmed, Techno can barely nod. Phil smiles and tilts his chin as he leans in. There’s a slight bump of noses, and then Techno feels soft lips and the slightest graze of stubble against his chin.

Techno parts his lips slightly and his back prickles when he tastes Phil’s tongue against his. Phil bites at Techno’s upper lip slightly before scraping his teeth over the sensitive skin and leaning back. Techno sees how dark Phil’s eyes have gotten and then he can’t look him in the eye anymore. Phil laughs with delight. “The great Blood God, rendered speechless? Never thought I’d see the day.”

Techno can’t even find it in him to tell Phil to shut up. He buries his face in Phil’s neck, wrapping him in a hug. Phil willingly moves closer, stroking at the small of Techno’s back. Phil presses his lips to Techno’s ear. “How long?”

“What,” Techno whispers, the syllable sounding more like air than his voice.

“How long have you wanted to do this?”

Techno squeezes his eyes shut. “You probably don’t remember, but there was a night when we went out on a boat together to fish, and we ended up stargazing the entire night together. We almost knocked the boat over because we hit a giant patch of ice.”

Phil stills. “That was ages ago. You still refused to call me your friend back then.”

Techno laughs breathlessly. “Yup. Sounds about right. What about you?”

“Gods. I don’t know, Techno. I’ve wanted you for so fucking long, I don’t know what it’s like not to love you.”

Techno is slumped back against the head of the bed with Phil resting against his chest. He can feel his necklace trapped between them. Techno runs his hands over Phil’s back, slipping beneath his folded wings. He is delighted to hear the pleasant, tiny chirps from Phil’s throat as Techno runs his hands up Phil’s lightly feathered back, feeling the joints where they connect from his back to his muscular wings. “I can’t believe this is happening right now,” Phil whispers. Silently, Techno agrees. Phil rests his head on Techno. “I’m not too heavy?”

Techno kisses the top of Phil's head. “No. Are you comfortable, though?”

Phil shifts to curl up on the mattress next to Techno, and he makes a pleased sound when Techno wraps his arms around him, stroking at his wings. Techno rests his chin on top of Phil’s head, and one of Phil’s ankles wrap around Techno’s calf.

It was an interesting experience being in Phil’s body, but secretly, Techno is thankful he’s the taller one of the two so that he can envelope Phil’s body with his own.


End file.
